With the forecast calling for rain, the Stanford Invite was moved to Stevinson, Calif., roughly two hours from Palo Alto. Despite the circuitous route to tournament play, Oregon ultimate proved its worth in a big way.
The men and women combined for two tournament wins and a 13-1 record last weekend.
For the first time in recent history, the two squads both recorded wins in the same tournament, and each squad cemented its claim as a national title contender. A national championship is the goal for both the men and women.
“I think both teams could take nationals,” women’s team coordinator and co-captain Jenica Villamor said.
Women’s ultimate

No. 1 Fugue (15-0) remained perfect in 2010 and collected seven wins in two days of play over the weekend. And while No. 4 UC Santa Barbara figured to be Fugue’s toughest opponent, it was in fact Oregon’s Pacific Northwest neighbors that gave the toughest fight.
Locked in a battle with Washington late Sunday, Fugue took control of its destiny through stellar defense. Coming off a pull, Fugue pinned UW down deep in its own end.
Tight defense on the Huskies’ handler forced a dump attempt. However, senior Molly Suver was marking the dump and picked it off while standing in the UW end zone, leading to a 15-13 win by Callahan, which is when a defender intercepts a pass in the end zone for a point.
Head coach Lou Burruss recognized the how big the Washington win was for his team.
“It was our third game against Washington and our third win,” Burruss said. “Each game has been different; we won the first on fitness and the second on offense.”
The win against UW clinched Oregon’s first championship run in the Stanford Invitational. Fugue bested 13 teams and improved on a third-place finish in Palo Alto last year. Despite the success, the team still maintains that it can make improvements.
“We (are) working on refining our fast-paced offense by focusing on efficiency of play and limiting turnovers,” co-captain Julia Sherwood said.
Fugue has won six of its seven tournaments played. Competition will be equally stiff in Austin, Texas later in March. The Centex tourney hosts Oregon, as well as other West Coast juggernauts including Cal and UCSB. More than two months separate both Oregon teams from nationals and Fugue continues to improve. Burruss will use the win to help improve his team’s mechanics.
“We are steadily improving, but we have a long way to go until the championships in May,” Burruss said.
Men’s ultimate

The men faced 2009 national champions Carleton College in the first round of the championship bracket. But on Sunday in Stevinson, Oregon held court with a 14-13 win.
The Ducks were victorious and cemented a spot in the finals, where they dispatched Pittsburgh 15-9.
Senior team captain Kevin Minderhout elaborated on the weekend.
“We ran away with the final game because we’re a well-conditioned team and we have plenty of depth,” Minderhout said.
Georgia garnered the only win against Oregon. The 13-11 loss in pool play left Oregon in a difficult spot, still having a match to play against Stanford on Saturday and trying to maintain control of the bracket. The Ducks upended the Cardinal 13-6, relying on athleticism as well as conditioning to right their ship heading into the final day of tournament action.
The Ducks opened Sunday by running through another team which had beaten them last year — the Florida Gators. Since 2006, the Gators have done no worse than the semifinals at nationals.
“We have one of the most potent offenses in the game … we score a little under half the time we get the disc, unofficially,” Minderhout said.
While both ultimate squads at Oregon rely on team depth to take them deep into tournaments, their styles are fundamentally different. Nevertheless, both teams are concentrated on achieving the same goal: a national championship. And as indicated by last weekend’s Stanford Invite, both teams have the tools and talent to earn titles for the University.
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